BOZEMAN, Mont. — North Dakota State prevailed. Somehow. The Bison blocked an extra point kick in overtime Saturday to take a dramatic 35-34 victory over No. 6-seeded Montana State in the second round of the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs.
Bison senior Hunter Poncius, a 6-foot-8 back-up lineman, blocked the kick that sent NDSU to the FCS quarterfinals for a 14th consecutive season.
It left a sellout crowd of 17,247 fans at Bobcat Stadium stunned, which was primed for finally overtaking the Bison after four solid defeats in four previous playoff meetings. NDSU has 46 FCS playoff victories to pass Georgia Southern — now an FBS program — and take over first place alone on the all-time list.
It ruined a great day for MSU quarterback Tommy Mellott, who threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 151 yards and another two scores.
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Mellott did all of that before leaving the game midway in the fourth quarter with an apparent knee injury and after that the Bison tied it. That left the outcome in the hands of backup Sean Chambers.
Chambers turned in a key 29-yard scramble that reached the Bison 36-yard with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter. But sacks by Jake Kava and Dylan Hendricks on Chambers twice forced a punt, and overtime was looming.
“It got them out of field goal range,” said NDSU head coach Matt Entz. “Great pressure on the quarterback and forced them to punt.”
NDSU had the ball first. Quarterback Cam Miller scored from three yards and it was 35-28. Montana State didn’t waste time when it got the ball. Running Back Scottre Humphrey scored from the 25, but the extra point was blocked and the Bison celebrated.
Poncius got penetration in the middle of the line and got his hand up to block the kick, ending the game. The Bison sideline stormed the field soon after.
Down 28-21, the Bison got the ball with 7:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. Miller scrambled for 17 yards to his 32-yard line. TaMerik Williams, the first Bison running back to top 100 yards this season, ripped off 14 yards to the Bobcat 42 with under five minutes left. Williams rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 11 attempts.
Running back TK Marshall, on his third carry of the game, scored from 29 yards out and the game was tied at 28-28 with 2:33 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“We got our tailbacks going today and that’s a good sign,” Entz said. “You need two this time of the year and you take advantage of all your weapons.”
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What looked like a top-notch second half performance by the Bobcats was suddenly tied.
“We could have folded and patted themselves on the back and say nice year,” Entz said. “Next year let’s get it cranked up again but just the resolve and the energy on the sideline was contagious.”
There was drama in a festive outdoor venue everywhere. For instance, fans who headed out to the parking lot for a refreshment at halftime and came back two minutes late for the second half missed two touchdowns.
Williams bolted 75 yards on the first play after the opening kickoff to give NDSU a 21-14 lead.
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Two plays later, Mellott ran 76 yards to tie it. One series later, Mellott, beginning a play as a wideout, took a pitch from Chambers and threw a 9-yard TD pass to Clevan Thomas Jr. and the Bobcats had the momentum leading 28-21.
It was that kind of a back-and-forth day.
The first half played to a draw, although the Bison took their time getting there. But two straight possessions midway in the second quarter produced two straight trips to the end zone.
A 3-yard scoring pass from Miller to wide receiver Zach Mathis tied it at 7-7. Give an assist to NDSU punter Kaedin Steindorf, whose punt was downed at the Bobcats’ 4-yard line. After the Bison defense held, NDSU had good field position for the first time taking over at the MSU 39.
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NDSU went the long way the next time it had the ball. Taking over at its own 7, a 12-yard pass from backup QB Cole Payton to Mathis got the drive started. Wide receiver RaJa Nelson’s 22-yard run kept it going and Williams finished it with a 44-yard touchdown run.
That gave the Bison a 14-7 lead.
It didn’t hold. The Bobcats were lightning quick, needing just three plays to travel from their 29 to the Bison 8. Mellott scored from the 6-yard line and the teams took a 14-14 tie into halftime.
A tied halftime score wasn’t looking promising for NDSU early on, with the Bison spending most of the first quarter dodging trouble. The Bobcats took the opening kickoff and promptly marched to the Bison 14-yard line. It included MSU converting a fourth-and-2 near midfield.
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But the Bison defense stiffened and Casey Kautzman’s 33-yard field goal was wide right.
That scenario would repeat itself after the NDSU offense went three-and-out the first time it got the ball. A 24-yard punt return by Taco Dowler had the Bobcats sitting pretty at the Bison 31-yard line.
A couple nice tackles by Hendricks and Kava, however, forced Kautzman to try a 50-yarder, which again was wide right.
The third time was not a charm for the Bison defense. MSU made the Bison offense pay for a second straight three-and-out, getting a 34-yard touchdown pass from Mellott to Ty McCullough and the Bobcats led 7-0 after one quarter.
MSU already had 121 yards of total offense at that point to NDSU’s 33. If the Bison were looking for a good start, they didn’t get it. The Bison, however, got the finished it needed.
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Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough” and “Covid Kids.” He is the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.
